E&IT Procurement
Information for Vendors
Welcome Vendors! If you're at this page, it's most likely you have been asked to submit a VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template). The key to filling out an informative and useful VPAT is concentrating on type and accessibility of your product. Although you might want to say "Not Applicable" to most standards, it would be best to avoid that part of the time because no product has aspects not affilitiate with other catagories. The catagories are as follows:
- Sofware application or operating system.
- Web information, application, or tool (in conjunct to "software").
- Telecommunications product, hardware and/or software.
- Video or multimedia product.
- Self Contained product (usually small, portable products but larger devices are included).
- Desktop and Portable computers (also applicable if your product contains these).
Fully filling out the last part of the VPAT "Information, Documentation, and Support" is always required. Having your documentation online in HTML format is always a good start.
We've copied the CSU document on VPATs for you in .pdf format (originally a .doc) here. This is a very good first reference.
For more understanding, the standard reference page for the CSU requirements is at http://www.calstate.edu/Accessibility/EIT_Procurement/.
Final words on completing a VPAT: Please include contact name and date. Also, in order to make it easy to read, thus saving time, please use one of the seven standard responses in the "Supporting Features" column (which is usually column 2):
- Supports
- Supports with Exceptions
- Supports with Equivalent Facilitation
- Supports when combined with Compatible AT
- Does not Support
- Not Applicable
- Not Applicable - Fundamental Alteration Exception Applies
The most common response should be "Not Applicable". Whenever possible, support your response in the "Remarks" column. Putting remarks in the "Supporting Features" column is common in VPATs but that makes it harder for a reviewer to read.
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